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uss richard nixon

The U.S. Navy’s newest warship is the destroyer USS Richard Nixon, the world’s first double-threat stealth destroyer. The Richard Nixon is based on the Navy’s advanced stealth technology, which hides the ship from radar – but also prevents anyone who should chance to observe its position from determining its true course and speed. That’s because the USS Nixon moves in an entirely unconventional way. Instead of proceeding forward, as does every other ship ever made, the USS Nixon actually travels sideways through the water. Powerful engines located not in the stern but on the port side of the ship drive it broadside even through the roughest seas, preventing an enemy from making any prediction as to its course and speed. Thus the Nixon never appears where it looks like it’s going. This double stealth technology is a first for any ship, and would not be possible without sophisticated computer control of its engines and moveable hull surfaces. In battle, the USS Nixon could approach closer to an enemy unobserved before firing its deadly stealth cruise missiles, which themselves are invisible to detection. The Navy has high hopes for this new type of sideways-moving stealth ship, despite the fact that its tremendous friction through the water requires thirty times the fuel to travel anywhere. Find out more about this amazing new stealth ship in our book, The USS Richard Nixon: America’s Stealthiest Weapon.